The development of friendships and peer groups Flashcards
when are friends important?
More time in peer interaction:
Higgins & Parsons, 1983
- at age 2, only 10% of time is spent with peers
- but on entry into school, 30% of time is spent with peers.
when are friends important?
what do school children become concered about?
Rubin et al., 1998
acceptance by the peer group
when are friends important?
benefits of friends/friendships:
3 things
- development of social skills
- links with mental health, well-being & school success
- links to feelings of self-worth
Maunder & Monks 2019
when are friends important?
what is a friend?
when you have a mutual liking with another individual
when are friends important?
what is a peer
another individual in the same social group as you
friendship research methods
types of friendship research methods:
- observation
- peer (sociometric) nominations
- rating scales
- paired comparisons of nominations/ratings
- social network analyses
when are friends important?
peer (sociometric) nominations
2 types
- reciprocal nominations
- revised class play (reputation measure)
friendship research methods
rating scales
2 types
- sociometric ratings
- friendship quality
sociometric status
popular children traits:
3 traits
- good social skills
- not typically aggressive
- in adolescence: more relational aggression
sociometric status
rejected children traits
3 traits
- aggressive-rejected children (40%-50%)
- withdrawn-rejected children (10-25%)
- Interpret benign situations as intentional, and have difficulty coming up with solutions for difficult social situations.
sociometric status
neglected children traits:
1 trait
less sociable and disrputive than average children
sociometric status
controversial children traits
2 traits
- have characteristics of both popular and rejected children
- socially active and often group leaders
friendship support social-cognitive development
example of social-cognitive skills:
4 skills
- cooperation
- negotiation
- mental state awareness
- emotional awareness
Friendships support social-cognitive development
equal in perceived power: Piaget
peers are useful in the construction of one’s own explanations & rules of how things work
- cognitive disagreement would lead peers to be aware of an explore differing perspectives on a problem
Relatively equal in perceived power: Vygotsky
cooperation in relationships is useful in the construction of one’s skills and abilites
* zone of proximal development: adult and peers as tutors (scaffolding)
definition of friendship
voluntary and reciprocal relationship between 2 individuals
early friendship development: between 3 & 7
- intimacy refers to children’s physical location
- conflicts arise over toys and space
early friendship development: between 4 & 9
- friendships are one-way: exists because fulfil some function that the self wants
- A close friend is someone they know likes and dislikes of
early friendship development: between 6 & 12
- Are able to reflect on joint experiences
- Concerned with coordinating and approximating likes and dislikes
- Fairweather friendship
early friendship development: between 9 & 15
- Can have intimate and mutually shared relationships
- Have a mutual understanding and concern/share personal problems
early friendship development: between 12 & adulthood
Accepts independence and dependence
give 3 examples of friendship conceptions
- common activities
- smiliarity of attitudes
- companionship
selecting friends: proximity
- young children have friends who are close in proximity
- older children accept more distance
selecting friends: same age
early & middle childhood = same-age friends
selecting friends: similarity
- young children like similarity of locations or features
- older children select similarity on the basis of personality features, common interests and attitudes, etc.
friendship in infancy: 12-18 months
more smiling, reaching, touching specific peers
friendship in infancy: 12-18 months
more smiling, reaching, touching specific peers
friendship in infancy: 12-24 months
3 times more likely to comfront preferred peers
friendship in infancy: 20 months
selectively intiate interactions (and play) with some peers over others
friendship in early childhood
3 points
- reciprocated friendships appear
- young mixed-sex friendships become more gender segregated
- children begin to recognise that some peers are more dominant than others -> reflected in conflict situations
sex (or gender) cleavage
sex segregation occurs early on:
4 key points
- infants prefer to look at same-sex images
- at 2, boys are more likely to respond when a boy asks them to play than a girl
- childhood, >90% peer time spent with same-sex
- adolesence, preference for same-sex interactions declines
Cross-sex friendships do exist
- 81% of 9-18 year olds agree
- 64% of these children judge that the types of friends differ
ethnicity and friendship
what type of children tend to be more accepting of cross-race friendships?
minority children
* 80% of African and European Americans had best friend from same ethnic background
* 60% of Asian Americans had best friend from the same ethnic background
cross-ethnic friendships in adolescents: not rare
What did Bagci et al discover about cross-ethnic friendships in 2014?
only 3% reported not having any cross-ethnic friendships
friends vs. nonfriends: interaction differences
with friends
- greater cooperation & coordination
- more pretend play
- more conflict, but also more likely to resolve conflict in controlled ways
similarity between friends: 11-15 year olds
- friends behaviour more similar than non-friends
- socially accepted friends more alike on nominations of having friends, being liked and being a victim
- friends reported more similar depression levels
similarity between friends: gender differences
- girls = friends more similar in cooperation, offers help
- boys = friends more similar in shyness and victimisation
similarity of friends in adolescence
friendships were made on similarity of dimensions that matter e.g.
friendships were made on similarity of dimensions that matter e.g.
* attitudes to school and school achievement
* normative behaviour
similarity of friends in adolescence
whats normative varies by:
what’s normative varies by:
* sex. difference in similarity of sexual behaviour and attitudes
* ethnicity. differences in similarity of academic orientation
friendship groups
do boys and girls friendship groups differ?
- girls had larger social networks
- girls social networks were made more ethnically diverse
- girls had 62% of reciprocated friendships being cross-ethnic, boys had 54%
friendship groups
what is important for group composition?
sex appears to be more important than ethnicity
* cross-sex dyads comprised of 7% of friendships
* cross-ethnic dyads comprised of 59% of friendships
what are cliques?
friendships groups that children will form or join, but members do not always see themselves as close friends
emergence of cliques in middle childhood
2 points
- usually between 3-9 children in the group
- usually stable for only a few weeks
emergence of cliques
what do cliques function as in middle childhood?
3 points
- group of peers to socialise with
- validation of features the group has in common
- provide sense of belonging
cliques and crowds in adolescence
3 points
- often belong to more than one clique
- greater stability of cliques
- important to conform to group dress & behaviour
parental role in children’s peer relations
attachment style
two types
- secure attachment: children display positive emotions and have good social skills
- insecure attachment: tend to be more aggressive, whiny and socially withdrawn
parental role in children’s peer relations
parent-child interaction styles
- interactions differ for popular children and their parents in comparison to unpopular children and their parents
parental role in children’s peer relations
parent beliefs
was the child born that way? or can we modify behaviour by playing a more active role?
parental role in children’s peer relations
what is coaching behaviour
when mothers may coach in prosocial behaviour
parental role in children’s peer relations
what is modelling behaviour
when children demostrate similar conversational styles as they have experienced at home
what is bullying?
the abuse of physical and pyschological power for the purpose of intentionally and repeatedly creating a negative atmosphere of severe anxiety and intimidation
what are the 4 types of aggression?
- physical: shoving, punching
- cognitive: teasing, insulting
- social: involving groups, instigating
- emotional: spreading rumours, excluding
who bullies?
mainly boys
what percentage of children get bullied?
20-33%
what are the characteristics of bullies?
- conduct problems
- social problems
- more positive attitude towards aggressive behaviours than other children
what are the 3 main motives of bullies?
- power and dominance
- hostility towards their environment
- to gain some rewards
characteristics of bullied victims:
- internalising problems i.e. anxious, lower self-esteem
- social problems
- have greater difficulty adjusting to school
BUT SOME - conduct problems
- reactive aggression
summary of findings for increases in victimisation:
2 points
- Children without a best friend had increases in internalizing and externalizing behaviours
- Too much time spent with best friends had increases in internalizing problems when victimized.
Hodges et al., 1999
summary of findings for decreases in victimisation:
- Having a best friend predicted decreases in victimization
- Security, companionship, and conflict did not predict changes in victimization
- Protection was related to decreases – but what kind of protection??
Hodges et al., 1999
